1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to scoring devices that are portable, self contained and capable of being used in a wide variety of sporting events and venues.
2. Background of the Invention
Team banners are a popular choice for youth and adult sporting teams providing a means to display their team insignia in any sporting venue. Banners are easily attached and displayed on a variety of surfaces while capable of being rolled up and easily stored in an equipment bag or car trunk.
In addition, every sports team relies on the ability to keep an up to date score. The ability to display this score is a critical part of the enjoyment of every participant involved in the sporting event, including players, coaches, parents and spectators. In many sporting events, particularly youth sporting events, scoreboard displays are not available for common viewing. The need for distant viewing displays requires large rigid structures requiring a high degree of complexity in assembly, storage, maintenance and transportability. These large, permanent and expensive scoreboards are often not a practical solution for many youth sport organizations. Therefore scores are often maintained with pencil and paper which can only be viewed by the individual scorekeeper. A participant is forced to keep his or her own score, either by using memory, using their own pencil and paper or most cases repeatedly asking the scorekeeper what the current score is. Therefore inventors have created several approaches to solving this problem by designing small portable scoring devices. They have, however, failed in developing a scoring device that meets the lightweight, flexible, compactable and storable benefits of a banner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,788 to Castelli (1977) discloses an all purpose one-sided portable electronic scoreboard with a self contained carrying case of rigid material, however this scoreboard requires the use of an external power source forcing the playing field to provide a 120 V AC supply or a portable gasoline generator. The rigid self-contained carrying case limits the scoreboard's compact portability. U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,291 to Maynes (1981) discloses a two-sided portable scoreboard with a pair of overlapping disks sandwiched between a front and rear plate, however the rigidity of the disclosed front and back plates and disks prevents flexibility and compact portability. Maynes also requires a complex array of display attachments required for use in different venues, further restricting its compact portability. U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,636 to Gustafson (1997) discloses a portable scoreboard with an inverted-U-shaped mounting frame, incorporating a plurality of cards having indicia and arranged in at least three stacks with the cards having a front face and a back face. This scoreboard requires over eighty components in its basic design, a large U-shaped rigid frame plus a complexity of display attachments for alternative venues thus preventing flexible compact portability.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,934 to Alexson (2000) discloses a portable scoring apparatus comprising of a carrying case formed of two half sections joined together by a flexible connecting section however the scoring apparatus does not provide the benefits of a banner display of a team insignia in a size that could be easily viewable while remaining compact and portable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,956 to Thater (1989) discloses a one sided tennis scoring apparatus constructed of a durable fabric and designed so as to be foldable about itself into a small portable configuration however the apparatus is specifically designed and limited for use in the sport of tennis and therefore fails to support a variety of sports and venues.
In addition, inventors have also created several approaches to solving the problem of organizing sports equipment, specifically in baseball and softball dugouts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,907 to McKenzie and Ingle (1994) discloses a predetermined location holder for beverage containers and related articles, U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,340 to Cameron (2000) discloses a back supported sports equipment rack, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,830 to Manookian (2000) discloses a length adjusting sports equipment hanging belt, all of which are specific in claims and fail to incorporate a scoring capability in their disclosures.
In conclusion, insofar as I am aware, no scoreboard or scoring apparatus formerly developed provides a team banner which also serves as a two-sided, self contained scoring device capable of supporting a large variety of sporting events and venues. In addition, insofar as I am aware, no scoreboard or scoring apparatus developed provides a multi-sport scoring device capable of also organizing sports equipment.